'I can't give up:' law enforcement officers shares 4 month battle with COVID-19 - KATV
Pine Bluff (KATV) — After a four-month battle with COVID-19, a law enforcement officer with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office shared with KATV his journey for the first time.
Lieutenant Kaylon McDaniel with the sheriff's department was admitted to Baptist Health with COVID-19 in July and has been home recovering since early November. According to McDaniel, he doesn't recall much of his time in the hospital, he said it felt like a big nap.
McDaniel told KATV since he first contracted the virus he's been in ICU at Jefferson Regional Medical Center, airlifted to Baptist Health, temporarily put in a medically induced coma, suffered a heart attack, and placed in rehab.
"I didn't believe that had gone from July to September that quick, and I'm sitting here and I'm like where has the time gone," McDaniel said. "Where have I been. I had been in the hospital that whole time."
McDaniel said through many prayers from his family, friends, and medical staff motivated him not to quit on his road to being released from the hospital.
"They told me with what I had and what I went through only 14 percent made it," he said. "So that right there was humbling to me to know I can't give up."
Last month, McDaniel was welcomed home by every law enforcement agency in Jefferson County by a police motorcade. He calls it a moment he'll never forget.
"I've done many of those escorts before and it's not for somebody that is alive," McDaniel said. "To be alive and to look at it and know that's for you, and that they're celebrating you, that was beyond what I expected."
According to McDaniel, before his COVID struggle, he didn't believe he'd ever end up sick or being an advocate for people to get vaccinated. He told KATV because of his experience with the virus, many of his colleagues with the sheriff's office are now vaccinated.
After completing therapy for six weeks, nearly two weeks ago McDaniel returned back to work but his duties are restricted.
"It gets frustrating at times to the point where it's like you wanna go out there and still be the police again. Just like my journey through COVID I had to take it step by step," he said.
Officials with the Arkansas Department of Health said with the surge in omicron variant cases, they are not sure how the virus will affect long-term covid patients.
McDaniel said he hopes s his story can be an example of why people should consider being vaccinated.
"Mine went from very little symptoms to almost dying, so that's how serious this virus can take you, just in a matter of days," he said.
According to McDaniel, he's not sure when he can go back to working full-time.
Officials with the department of health told KATV some of the long-term COVID effects include loss of memory, trouble breathing, and anxiety disorders.
source: https://katv.com/news/local/i-cant-give-up-law-enforcement-officers-shares-4-month-battle-with-covid-19
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